A Council of Betrayal (16 page)

Alec cleared his throat, drawing my intent,
domineering gaze away from Hudson. “What Hudson is trying to say is
that you probably don’t like her because she is an alpha female
around Logan.”

I tipped my head to the side. “So your
rationale is that I don’t like her because she’s too close to my
mate?” I asked, my irritation spiking.

I let it seep out into both of them. They
fidgeted uneasily. Fun, I could now influence shifters without
touching them.

“Listen and listen fucking well. My survival
instincts have kept me alive. I do not like the questions Sage was
asking me. If she suddenly grew a pair of useless balls and a dick,
I’d have the same motherfucking opinion. You will not dismiss me
because you think I’m jealous.” I spat the last word, my irritation
moving up to full-fledged pissed the fuck off.

“If I wasn’t mated to Logan and I said that I
didn’t trust Sage, would you have treated it differently?” I
asked.

The entire table squirmed and I could feel
Logan riding our bond hard, wanting to shut me down. Good luck,
motherfucker. This bitch wasn’t about to be shut up.

Alec and Hudson didn’t have an answer. Jerry
came to their rescue.

“It is an interesting thought. Since you
don’t in fact have an animal riding you and influencing you with
its own instincts, are you in fact behaving similar to the
shifters?” Jerry thought out loud.

Hudson grunted, not meeting my gaze directly
as he opened his mouth. “I wonder how you would feel knowing Logan
and Sage slept together?”

He looked at me then and rage filled my
chest, irrational rage.

“Now that, fucker, makes me jealous.
Congrats.” I slammed myself way from the table, blocking Logan from
my head as well.

I stormed out the back door, leaning heavily
against the brick wall, trying to get my emotions in check. As
previously discovered, my control had to be perfect, otherwise I
risked influencing the other shifters around me. I hadn’t tested
how far my reach went, however. I shook my head, it didn’t
matter.

It also didn’t matter that Logan and Sage had
fucked. I turned, slamming my fist against the brick wall, scraping
my knuckles. Then why was it riding me so hard? I had fucked plenty
of people. I didn’t see Logan getting up in arms.

“That is a sweet smell,” a voice in the
shadows whispered.

I turned, having a momentary panic when four
vampires stepped out.

The front one smiled, his fangs prominently
on display.

“Olivia, Head Executioner for The Eastern
Supernatural Council and Mate to the Alpha of the US, you are a
prize, indeed.” He drew out the last word and I thought about using
my bond to call for help.

Instead I smiled, flexing my hands at my
side.

“You going to stand there all day talking,
pretty boy, or we going to throw down?”

He laughed, his shoulder length hair shifting
around his high and defined cheekbones. “No, my dear girl, I would
not throw away the lives of my clan knowing the odds are not in my
favor.”

I scowled, “Well that sucks.” I crossed my
arms over my stomach. “What do you want?”

“A private audience.”

I waved my hand around. “Doesn’t get more
private than this.”

He nodded. “I suppose you are correct.”

He took a step forward, extending his hand.
“My name is Raphael.”

I extended my hand with the bloody knuckles,
okay so I was testing his control and looking for a reason to dust
him. Instead, he turned our hands, kissing away the blood and
healing the flesh with his saliva.

“Thanks,” I grunted, my anger diffusing.

He nodded, almost giving me a small bow. “We
would like to seek an alliance.”

I’m pretty sure my face gave away my shock
and disbelief. “Why? I’m not currently a favorite of the
vampires.”

Raphael nodded, searching my face, debating
about how much he could trust me, no doubt. Whatever he found there
had him looking away, shaking his head.

“The djinn was only the beginning. You are
targeted and I believe you will come out the victor. I do not agree
with what is happening in the Clans. It has made me and mine
vulnerable.”

“I can’t offer you protection. Clan law
overrides my Council when it comes to vampires.”

He nodded. “We understand that. It is a
delicate line we walk, but know that when the dividing lines are
drawn, we are on your side.”

It was my turn to search his face. What I saw
there worried me. I took a step forward unconsciously.

“You are betting your life on this,” I
whispered, moving on to search the other grim faces in the alley
way.

They all bore the look of those who have
accepted their thread ending soon.

“We have made our peace with history
repeating itself,” Raphael said stoically.

“I don’t want your deaths on my
conscious.”

Fuck, I might have been willing to kill them
just moments earlier, but that was before all the cryptic shit.

“What is repeating itself?” I asked.

“For that you would do well to look at my
history.”

“As in the ninja turtles?” I asked.

He laughed, his face softening. “Thank you,
Olivia, it has been some time since I have found humor in anything.
No, the archangel.”

I nodded, “I’ll look into it.”

He peered at me and I could tell he wanted to
say more, but instead he just smiled.

“Be safe, all of you. Just stay alive.” I
liked these guys, which seriously, after the last bout of shit with
vampires, that was saying something.

“You as well,” Raphael whispered.

The back door slamming open had me jumping as
Logan jumped down the concrete stairs to stand in front of me.

“What is going on?” he asked, not turning to
look at me, instead inhaling the air where the vampires had just
been.

“Nothing,” I replied, moving to go back into
the restaurant. I was still hungry.

Logan spun and caught my forearm. “Do not lie
to me,” he hissed.

I pulled out of his grasp. “I don’t know
what’s going on, Logan! All I know is that four vampires just
pledged themselves to my side. What the fuck is my side? And who am
I going against?” My voice hitched up and I clamped down hard on my
emotions.

“It was a foolish risk to come out here by
yourself and not call for help.”

I took a step closer to him. “I have been
taking care of myself long before you came into the picture. I am
not weak. You would do well to remember that.”

“You are angry about Sage,” he stated.

I growled, “That is the least of our worries,
and no, I haven’t figured out how I feel about that.”

Our anger rode our conversation hard. I let
the mate bond flare into its full glory just so he could feel how
fucking annoyed I was at being treated differently.

The back door flung open again. “The food has
arrived,” Hudson announced, the door closing behind him. “I wanted
to apologize, Olivia.”

“Never apologize for speaking the truth,
Hudson,” I told him, moving up the stairs quickly, offering
forgiveness to no one, haunted by Raphael’s words.

As I sat back down at the table, Jerry leaned
closer to me. “Are you okay?”

I picked up my phone, opening the browser as
Tommy had taught me. “Fine.”

I typed in “Raphael angel” and clicked on the
first link, skimming the contents quickly. The angel Raphael was
considered a healing source in human legend, defeating demons and
protecting the small bands of humans he was traveling with.

I chewed the inside of my lip, thinking.
Human history was steeped in encounters with the Supernatural. So
let’s say that Raphael really was—

Logan hit the mate bond hard.

I sighed. Relenting and opening the
connection back up, I quickly summarized our conversation.

You think he is the angel Raphael
mentioned in various religious documents
? Logan asked me.

I have no reason to doubt him.

What do you think he meant by history
repeating itself?
Logan questioned.

I rubbed my forehead, a heavy feeling
settling on my chest.

Selena used to talk about the days of old
when vampires, shifters and everything else treated humans and
weaker supes like cattle. That was her goal, to bring about the
downfall of humanity and the rise of her leadership as Queen, with
her perfect and powerful soldiers.
Sadness laced my words and
Logan took my hand.

You were her solider?

Yes
. My answer was clipped, even in my
mind.

Shaking my head, I continued,
I know it’s
a jump but let’s call Raphael a protector of humans. If history is
repeating itself, then he would resume that title.

Logan leaned back, crossing his arms over his
massive chest, straining the fabric of his sleeves. God that was
hot.

He smiled; apparently that thought had made
it through as well. I smiled back, my irritation and anger
receding.

I’d like that not to be true, or perhaps him
to be overdramatic. I nodded and he squeezed my hand. But I trust
your instincts and if you find him genuine and believable, then I
do as well.

Thank you.
It felt good to be
respected and validated.

“Anyone else think we are missing something?”
Mark asked around a piece of pizza.

“Who ate all my cheese pizza?!” I
demanded.

They all gave me sly smiles.

…

Lugging all our packages, we headed up to our
rooms. The elevator was crowded and my feet hurt.

“Is there anything else for tonight?” I
asked, dragging myself down the hallway to Logan’s room.

“No, the tech conference was scheduled for
the entire day,” Jerry answered.

“Wonderful. I need to check on Ali,” I
groaned.

“I’ve been texting with Grant. She’s sleeping
peacefully,” Mark informed me.

I grunted, my hip twinging and my feet
dragging.

Logan opened the door to his room and I
dropped my bags, face planting into the soft pillows.

…

I woke up after only a few hours of rest,
rolling onto my back, careful not to displace Logan. He was
snoring, lying on his back. Scooting into a sitting position, I
checked my phone, finding it was far too early to expect Logan or
anyone else to be up.

I rubbed my eyes, wishing I could sleep more.
I looked over at Logan, debating waking him up. Was this what every
night was going to be? How was he going to handle it when I was
gone for weeks at a time? Shit, how was I going to handle it? My
chest tightened at the thought of being separated from him.

I exhaled loudly. This shit complicated
everything.

I toyed with my phone, deciding I wasn’t
going to bother Kass, who was hopefully sleeping, but I was going
to see her first thing when we got back. I needed some
perspective.

Logan rolled over, squinting as the light of
my phone flashed.

“Go back to bed,” he growled.

“Make me,” I growled back.

He scooted closer. I watched him curiously,
feeling his irritation with the mate bond. Reaching over the
comforter I turned toward him, liking where this was going. He
snaked an arm around my waist and yanked me down flat.

I huffed, my own irritation spiking. He
settled his tree trunk limb over my stomach, bending the limb to
rest his hand on my shoulder.

“Now,” he grunted.

“It doesn’t work that way Logan,” I informed
him. “Do you need me here to sleep?”

“I’d prefer it. Do you have somewhere else
you’d rather be?”

“Killing something sounds appealing, or
figuring out what the fuck is going on with the vampires and the
djinn, and let’s not forget finding out who is making the serum for
forcing shifters into full beast.”

“And you think by not sleeping you will
suddenly figure all that out?” Logan asked wearily.

“No.” I was being grumpy.

“Give it an hour. If you still want to prowl
the halls looking for trouble, I’ll go with you.”

“Deal,” I conceded. “At least we get to leave
tomorrow.”

Showered, dressed, and with a few more hours of sleep, the horde of
shifters I called my own and me waited outside my former room,
leaning against the hallway walls.

I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned with a
raised eyebrow, not sensing a threat. I mean, if you were going to
announce your presence with my current horde, you were either not
spoiling for a fight or suicidal.

“Your lips are the red rubies sought after by
countless others,” began the siren in front of me. “Your skin the
smoothest pearl to behold.”

“What are you doing?” I asked, confused.

“Your eyes the sea herself is jealous
of.”

I still didn’t sense a threat.

I turned, seeing Mark laughing. “I fail to
see the humor in this situation,” I informed him.

“Your breasts, the subtle swell of perfectly
formed mountains.” The siren was adding dramatic dance to his
blathering.

“Please tell me this is going to stop soon,”
I grunted, crossing my arms over my stomach.

“I can’t wait for Logan to see this.” Mark
rubbed his hands together excitedly, casting a look behind him at
Logan, who was on his cell phone, watching everything.

The siren reached out for my hand, cradling
it in his own very soft and weak hands.

“You are aware I have shit to do?” I asked
the siren.

He reached out to touch my hair. “The softest
strands of lovely locks.”

Alec came up beside us. “If you value your
life, you will leave the Alpha’s Mate alone.”

“What is he doing?” I asked Alec again, since
the siren had never bothered to answer.

“The lady does not deny my affections,” the
siren preened.

“Affections?” I repeated, seriously
confused.

A low growl behind us had me trying to turn,
but the siren tugged me closer to him, under his arm.